Neuroscientists on Whole Brain Teaching

From Ohio.com: (thanks, Another Hole Brain Director!)

NORTH CANTON: When Chris Biffle called out the word “Class!” Wednesday morning at Walsh University, 450 teachers and administrators yelled back, “Yes!”

“Class class?” he said.

“Yes! Yes!” they replied.

“Classity classity,” he said.

“Yessity yessity,” they chanted back.

The method might be fun, engaging and popular, judging by teacher testimonials and company-conducted polls.

But the techniques are not validated by contemporary brain research, according to two experts in the relationship between neuroscience and education who reviewed the claims for the Akron Beacon Journal.

“Nothing I see here indicates that there is any neuroscientific backing for anything they’re suggesting,” said Dan Willingham, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Virginia.

The Beacon Journal also asked David Daniel, managing editor of the peer-reviewed science journal Mind, Brain and Education to examine the research page at www.wholebrainteaching.com.

“I think he has these ideas that may or may not work, and he’s using brain stuff to market them,” said Daniel, a psychology professor at James Madison University. “The brain stuff on the web page is very cursory, very shallow. That could be just his way of communicating or it could be his level of understanding. Either way, it’s misleading.”

Jeff Battle, a middle school science teacher in North Carolina who says he keeps current on brain research for the company, said teachers aren’t bound by the same level of scientific rigor as neuroscientists.

“I’m not going to give a Ph.D.-level dissertation to a kindergarten teacher who wants to have a vague idea of why this is working so they can explain it if they need to,” Battle said. “We’re not pure science, we’re practitioners who are applying what we’ve learned so far.”

But, Daniel said, when educators misrepresent the science, they make it harder for researchers who are struggling to translate neuroscience into something teachers can reliably use in the classroom.

“It drowns out the softer voice of what’s credible. That’s what’s harmful,” Daniel said. “There are people doing really good work who, if they had a chance, would love to be helping teachers. But they’re getting drowned out by people who are better at marketing, better at speaking and better at selling.”

Notice the completely patronizing tone Jeff Battle takes about kindergarten teachers, as if it's their fault that he's peddling pseudo-scientific crap. Give me a break!

Whole Brain Teaching Rakes in the Shekels

Due to a reader's comment ("Whole Brain Teaching is FREE!"), I've decided to collect articles about the money being made by Chris Biffle and his Whole Brain Teaching system.

First up, I've posted on this subject twice:

Whole Brain Teaching for Profit

There's Gold in Them Thar Brains

Next, two commenters, Anonymous and Another Hole Brain Director, have chased down the following links: (Thanks to both of you for your efforts!):

2011 - 2012: Desert Sands Unified School District:

Provide Staff Training and Support on Whole Brain Teaching ... Chris Biffle, Consultant; $6,000.00 (page 7)

Nov. 2011: Lancaster School District:

Chris Biffle will teach Whole Brain Teaching to 3d Grade Teachers for $2,500.00 (item 41)

Oct. 2010 - March 2011: Gilroy Unified School District:

Contract not to exceed $10,000 for Chris Biffle to teach Whole Brain Teaching

April 16, 2011 & May 7, 2011: Lemon Grove School District:

2 one-day Whole Brain Teaching seminars: $3,700.00 to Service Provider Chris Biffle (pg. 15)

July 2009: San Bernardino City Unified School District:

Chris Biffle to present workshop on "Power Teaching Challenging Students" — not to exceed $1,500.00

Aug. 2009: Hemet Unified School District:

Approval to Hire Christopher Biffle; not to exceed $12,500.00 (item K-23)

Aug. 2008: Hemet Unified School District:

Approval to Authorize Hiring Chris Biffle; not to exceed $5,500 (item K-49)

Feb. 2008: San Bernardino City Unified School District:

Urbita Elementary School to hire Chris Biffle to present two two-hour workshops — not to exceed $700.00

Whole Brain Boo-Hoos

I've decided that one of the functions of this blog is to be a voice on the internet in opposition to Whole Brain Teaching.  Chris Biffle is relentless in purging dissent from every website he controls, such as the Whole Brain website and the various teaching videos on youtube.  I was banned from posting on his youtube sites after I asked polite questions.  So one function of Kid-Friendly Schools will be to express criticism, to correct the internet impression that WBT is universally accepted.

Also, the posts pretty much write themselves!

Here's an example of the casual cruelty that ensues when teachers are encouraged to focus on compliance, instead of the well-being of their young charges.

From the Whole Brain teaching forum:

and the boo.hoo's fell [terrible punctuation brought to you by Annette Warren, a Whole Brain model teacher!]

The power of the scoreboard was felt...and the tears fell, oh my. My first graders lost today. We counted the smilies and frownies and I won. The bet was a minute early out so a minute late is what we did. Standing behind our chairs hands over our eyes thinking how we could do better. I had stepped out the door to announce to mommies and daddies why we were late. When i came in I heard" Ms. Ladybug (they call me this) Katie is crying for real! 

Once she started another little one started, so i walked the girls out and explained they took our score board real serious, theclass I think we win tomorrow:-)

Annette.

(a response from another WBT model teacher, Andrea Schindler: )

Lol those little cryin darlins!!! If I hadn't have done kinder I don't think I could have handled criers. But i learned. They stop. Sounds harsh but they really do!

Ps howd they do the next day:)?

(a follow-up from Annette Warren: )

My little cryin first graders did exceptional the next day and now all I have to say is "do I need to go to the scoreboard?" They give me the your out gesture and a loud no way. We have a little monkey under frownie star and he is holding practice tickets...he has not passed out on yet, guess we don't monkey around in first grade.
Annette.

(a response from a WBT intern: )

Annette, I always smile at your posts! I am truly enjoying how powerful the scoreboard can be for so many students! I am preparing to get the students on board for practice cards. We have already been in school for 11 weeks. I think its time!!

Tee hee, what a giggle, making 6-year-old children cry.  Lovely.

P.S. I'm trying to teach model Whole Brain Teacher Farrah Shipley how to spell "comprehension". Wish me luck!

Spot the Control Freak

From a comment by Chris Biffle on the Whole Brain Teaching Forum:

Short talk/long talk is a strategy we use to reduce the potential for argument when we have to have a one-on-one talk with students about their behavior. We introduce the strategy in class by saying something like the following, "Someday I may have to take you aside and have a talk with you about how you're behaving in class. When we are alone, I'll give you the option of having a short talk or a long talk. You can choose! But I strongly advise you to pick 'short talk' because if we have a long talk, I'll be the one doing all the talking and you may not enjoy what I have to say."

Then, we have students explain short talk/long talk to each other.

When the day comes when you have to take a student aside, you say, "short talk or long talk?" Kids appreciate being given the choice ... so, make your point briefly and the one on one conversation is over. What we want to avoid is a back and forth confrontation that may raise your student's or your! emotional temperature.

I first tried short talk/long talk years ago when I was coaching a girls middle school basketball team ... and it worked wonderfully. It's a great way for you to make the point you need to make ... and then move back in to your normal teaching routine.

Whole Brain Teaching for Profit

The Whole Brain Teaching Company is now promoting a series of 7 Web Seminars, for a mere $4.95 each. They promise:

The beauty of our web seminars is that each program focuses on one, use-it-on-Monday, teaching technique. We guarantee you won’t be overwhelmed.

Well, of course you won't be overwhelmed, considering that Whole Brain is all about taking one simple idea and beating it to death. You certainly won't be overwhelmed by complex, subtle thinking with this crowd. No worries there!

In spite of the money they're now charging, under Whole Brain Teachers of America, we see this:

Whole Brain Teachers of America is a grass roots, education reform movement...

All of our seminars and downloads are free. Whole Brain Teaching is a movement, not a business.

Time for a rewrite, Biffle!

When the Bloom is Off the Rose

One of the many problems with reward systems is that they don't work over the long haul. As time goes on, kids get bored with the rewards they've already gotten and will require more as the price for their continued compliance. Of course, by that time they've forgotten what it feels like to be genuinely interested in learning.

Here's a post from "Newbie teaching in Gilroy, CA" from the Whole Brain Teaching website:

I already had knowledge of the basic scoreboard strategy. At the beginning of the year my students LOVED it and I saw student engagement soar. But right around November their interest/motivation seemed to plummet...

And a comment from another Whole Brain teacher:

Students are having a variety of reactions to my apparent change in personality. Some are lapping up all the sap I've been offering ... Some look exhausted from time-to-time. Even those tired looking students are easily re engaged with reminders to gesture or with a brief class rehearsal of expected behavior. I'm hoping this isn't just a honeymoon.

I can see that some kids might find WBT to be a novelty at first, and perhaps a welcome chance to move around and make a little noise during the school day. But can you imagine going to a WBT school, and looking at that damn scoreboard with the smilies and the frownies, and reciting those same stupid rules ("Keep your dear teacher happy!") for the 5th consecutive year? They'll have to put Prozac in the drinking water so the kids can cope.

If you read around on the WBT page, you find a lot of discussion of cute ways to change up the scoreboard, clearly a response to the basic tedium of the system. It's a glimpse of the trivial minds that get attracted to this stuff:

I've tried to make scoreboard parties a little more exciting for the students by changing them for the season. In October, we had "Spooky" / "Boohoo" and I even changed the frown face to one of a ghost. I'm looking for some November ideas. I have a new frownie of an Indian so I was thinking of something Thanksgiving related. I had thought about Gobble Gobble, but I'd like to have one for both and - any thoughts?

If you're not busy banging your head on the keyboard by now, let's look at one more comment:

I have begun making gestures for reading comprehension. ... Enjoy

This is followed by helpful pdf files containing gems like these:

Question: What are Text to Self Connections?
Answer: Connection that you make about yourself to a text.
Gesture: hold hands out like a book, point pointer fingers together then point to yourself.

Yeah, there's a definition I want my kid to memorize. How did people manage to comprehend reading before "text-to-self" was invented?

The Limits of Neuroscience

In 3 Brain Facts Every Educator Should Know, psychologist Daniel Willingham writes about the limits of neuroscience. In particular, he shows that neuroscience can't yet be useful for teaching. Willingham says:

Most of what you see advertised as educational advice rooted in neuroscience is bunkum.

He quotes a researcher, David Daniel:

“If you see the words 'brain-based,' run.”

Are you listening, Chris Biffle? Consider his claim:

All of Whole Brain Teaching’s instructional techniques (see the “First Steps” menu) are validated by contemporary brain research.

There's Gold in Them Thar Brains

According to the Gilroy Dispatch (of Gilroy, CA), Eliot Elementary School is about to implement Whole Brain Teaching. They've signed a contract with Chris Biffle to the tune of $7,000. The article doesn't explain exactly what the Biffinflator will do for this large chunk of change, but they do mention 2 weekend workshops. That's nice work if you can get it ...

Whole Brain Teaching is a Lie

from the Power Teachers Training Manual:

TRAINER: Here is another huge point.The Scoreboard game is fixed! The score never comes out to be anything other than what you want it to be. In elementary school, we reward initially with one minute more or less of recess. On the first day, be sure your students lose by one minute the first few times. Take them out to the playground with a stopwatch in hand and let them watch the other kids play for a minute. Make sure they never lose by more than a minute … they might get too upset. Sometimes, let them score come out even, neither losing nor winning a minute. Then after a few days, let them win a minute.

... Now, listen to me very carefully. The smaller the reward you give, the more valuable it is. Make my gestures. (Spread your arms out very wide. Make other graphic gestures as you continue talking.) It’s a long year. You’ve got to give small rewards at the beginning. When you finally give your students two minutes free time, it will feel enormous to them! Teach!

This amounts to mocking a child's innocence. Children are naturally trusting, and when they "lose" the scoreboard game, they will feel that they did something wrong.

What kind of sick mind wants to see kids knock themselves out for a trivial prize? Probably the same sick mind that thinks it's amusing to make kids beg (@6:08) for their reading lesson.

Also, if WBT is as much fun as its promoters claim, why is two minutes away from it perceived as a reward?

Guest Post: POV on WBT

from Suburban Chicken Farmer at Bon Mot:

Power Teaching/Whole Brain Teaching from the point of view of a nine year old third grade boy.

(email sent to teacher. Teacher and my son regularly corresponded about mainly homework through email)


Mr. H*.......im not doing my spelling list......it's something about the class. remember how the kids always yells at someone if they lose a point? well, I don't like that.. but I want you to do this speech tommorow:
Class! *yes!* Why do you yell at someone who loses a point? It's just some ink, nobody cares if they win the prize at the end of the day. But if the one who loses the point is your friend and you still yell at him, you will might lose him/her. So, do you think you like losing friends? I guess not.
You must do it tommorow. Please! Im trying to help the class!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This email was my introduction to Power Teaching. I was at the school at lunchtime when the school's director came up and said, "I read the email your son sent Mr. H and we'll have a meeting!" Since she was very upbeat, I assumed my kid had written something really good. I rushed home to read it myself. Wow! I was so proud to be related to such a wise person.

Mr. H was not as impressed. He took my son out into the breezeway and lectured him that this was Power Teaching and was developed in college by experts who knew far better than he, a mere child and further more the "I guess not." part of the email was, in Mr. H's opinion, sarcastic and not appreciated.

Letters to Parents, from Hell

As long as we're on the Soul Murder (aka "Whole Brain") program, I'll post some letters to parents that I found on their site. How would you like to receive one of these letters from your child's kindergarten teacher? I'd be yanking my kid out of that school so fast they'd see nothing but dust.

Here's the first, from Andrea Schindler of video fame:

August 25, 2009
Dear Parents,
I hope you had an enjoyable summer break and are anticipating this school year as much as I am! I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child to my classroom. In order to begin our year together successfully, I would like to explain some of the basic principles and guidelines in our classroom:

DISCIPLINE
My goal as a teacher is to provide a safe and stimulating learning environment. In order to do this, there is a reliable and consistent discipline system enforced in our classroom. I feel that a good discipline system reinforces positive behaviors and discourages behaviors that are negative to your child and his/her classmates. In our classroom we have the following rules:

The Big Rule: Listen when your teacher is talking.
Rule 1: Follow Directions Quickly
Rule 2: Raise your hand for permission to speak.
Rule 3: Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.
Rule 4: Make Smart Choices.
Rule 5: Keep your dear teacher happy.

Students will receive the opportunity to practice following our rules during class time. If, however, your child is having difficulty following the rules, he/she will be given extra time to practice during recess. If your child loses part of their recess as a result of breaking a classroom rule, you will receive a note that will indicate what rule was broken, and if necessary~ how it was broken. Please take the time to review the note and the rule with your child, sign the note and return the next day. Parent support is a valuable asset that contributes to student success, and by working together we will help your child learn to be a positive contributor in the classroom.

HOMEWORK
Homework is a valuable part of your child’s learning experience. It reinforces what is being taught in class, encourages the development of responsibility, and helps students to develop good study habits. Homework will be assigned on a weekly basis, and the expectation is that all homework assignments will be completed and turned in every Friday. If your child fails to turn in his/her homework, he/she will be sent to the office to have a conference with Mrs. King. Also, parents will need to attend an after school homework help session with their child so they parents can learn how to help their children with the homework. This after school help session is mandatory and will be held the following Monday at 3:45.

WEEKLY REPORTS
Research has proven that students are more successful when there is a strong parent--teacher communication system in place. In order to communicate regularly, your child will come home every Friday with a Weekly Report. The Weekly Report will keep you informed of classroom news, your child’s behavior, any missing assignments, and your child’s progress. Please read the report and return the bottom portion, signed, on the following Monday. Attached is your first Weekly Report !

PARENT VOLUNTEERS
I welcome and strongly encourage parent involvement in our classroom. I realize that many of you like to participate in classroom activities and volunteer in whatever way best fits your schedule. Please let me know if any of the following would interest you:
___Volunteering regularly in the classroom.
___Volunteering in the classroom to help with special activities on an “as needed” basis.
___Doing clerical work at home (cutting, coloring,etc).

This year promises to be a very fun and rewarding year. I am truly looking forward to working with your child! If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to contact me either at school (XXX-XXXX), or on my cell phone (XXX-XXXX).

Sincerely,
Ms.Schindler

and here's a lovely little example from a teacher who uses the site:

Date Sent:____________
Mrs. Hufstedler’s Class Rules

1 Listen to the Teacher.
2 Follow directions quickly!
3 Wait your turn.
4 Respect others, Respect yourself, Respect your school
5 Be safe, Be honest!
6 Keep your teacher happy!

Ways you can discuss this with your child:
Which rules do you still need to practice?
What did you do? What should you have done?
How will you follow these rules every day?
Please say these rules for me until I say stop.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Help!!!!!!!! I need practice. Today at school I broke the circled
rule(s). I agreed that all of these rules are fair and I am fully
capable of following them. I would never do anything to spite my
teacher or break one of the rules on purpose; therefore, I need you to help me practice.

Student Signature:____________________________

Family,
Please have your child practice the rule at home for as long as you
feel necessary. We have practiced at school already, but
PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT!
Sign and return this paper tomorrow.

If you have any questions, please give me a call or email maggieskindercorner@yahoo.com
My son/daughter practiced for _____________ minutes at home.

Student Signature_____________________
Parent Signature______________________

Date____________

Whole Brain Teaching Founder Chris Biffle Lies About His Qualifications

I got a tip from an anonymous poster that Chris Biffle, the founder of Whole Brain Teaching, lies about his qualifications. Here's the bio from his website:

Chris Biffle is the author of seven books (McGraw-Hill, HarperCollins) on critical thinking, reading and writing. He has received grants from the U.S. Department of Education and served on the Harvard based Perseus Project. In the last 10 years, Chris has established himself as nationally recognized authority on teaching challenging students; he has been lead presenter at over 50 Whole Brain Teaching conferences, attended by 5,000+ educators. Thousands of instructors across the United States and around the world base their teaching methods on his free Whole Brain Teaching ebooks.

The Perseus Project is not based at Harvard. It's run by Tufts University. Tufts University is no slouch; it's a well-known, well-respected institution that most people would be happy to honestly list on their resumé.

Now I'm wondering about the whole bio. If Chris Biffle feels the need to misspell "Tufts" as "Harvard" (oops! typo!), what else is he lying about? Did he really "serve on" the Perseus Project, and if so, what did he do? The Perseus Project generates a lot of low-level data-entry jobs. There's nothing wrong with honest labor, but a Perseus job isn't necessarily a great qualification, either.

And what does it mean when he says "He has received grants from the U.S. Department of Education"? Is he still paying back his student loans? What?

Soul Murder, 4th Grade Edition

If you can stand it (where's that bucket?), here's the Whole Brain video showing a lesson in "Critical Thinking". Did someone mention George Orwell? "Critical Thinking" sounds like something out of progressive ed, but there's nothing progressive going on here.

Whole Brain Teaching: 4th Grade Critical Thinking

The teacher lists 4 alleged levels of critical thinking, beginning with "memorization", and ending with the "genius" level, "compare and contrast". He wouldn't recognize genius if Albert Einstein whacked him upside the head with a skillet (don't tempt me.)

Clearly, the Whole Brain types can't allow actual critical thinking, which would mean letting the kids form their own thoughts and opinions.

Notice the way the teacher explicitly tells the kids, "high level of excitement!"

And here's one where the teacher makes the kids beg him to be allowed to do their reading instruction. Yes, they've memorized a "begging" gesture, so it's written in to the program.

Whole Brain Teaching: 4th Grade: The Crazy Professor Reading Game

It is scary to see the glowing comments that accompany these videos on youtube. Maybe we could start a campaign to leave negative comments? People should know that this is controversial.

Update: here's a fabulous source for complaints about Chris Biffle, the inventor of Whole Brain Teaching. It's the comments of students who took his "philosophy" course.

Chris Biffle -- Crafton Hills College -- RateMyProfessors.com

One student writes: "I'm not sure if he wants me to learn anything or just memorize a bunch of useless info." I couldn't have said it better myself.

Soul Murder

Whole Brain Teaching is being promoted all over the web as the latest and greatest in "teaching". Watch the video, if you can stand it. Warning -- have a bucket nearby, and a paramedic crew on speed dial.

Whole Brain Teaching: Kindergarten

Can you imagine being one of those kids, having every moment of the day scripted, down to the gesture? It's antithetical to learning, because there's no possibility of actually forming a thought in your brain. As the website boasts, "students don't have any mental area left over to create challenging behavior!"

I find this video deeply offensive to everything I believe about human beings and how they should be treated. I can only imagine the levels of boredom, frustration, anger, and depression experienced by kids who are treated this way. It's hard for me to understand how anyone can watch this and think it's a good idea, although apparently many people do.